High heat-dissipating high strength aluminum alloy

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a high heat-dissipating, high strength aluminum alloy, more particularly to an aluminum alloy containing, as essential components, manganese (Mn), silicon (Si) and magnesium (Mg) at a predetermined content ratio and further containing one or more metal selected from a group consisting of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zirconium (Zr), chromium (Cr) and titanium (Ti) at a predetermined content ratio, with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities. 
     The aluminum alloy provided by the present invention has very superior heat-dissipating property and strength and, therefore, can be used as a heat-dissipating material and also as a material for electric/electronic device packaging, a peripheral material for power devices and a material for heat exchangers for use in various applications including transportation such as electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, gasoline vehicles, etc., energy such as solar generation, etc., home electric appliances, industrial equipment, lighting, and so forth.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a high heat-dissipating, high strength aluminum alloy.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, the circuitry of electronic devices such as televisions, radios, computers, medical devices, office machinery, communications devices, etc. is becoming more and more complicated. For example, these and other devices include integrated circuits having hundreds of thousands of transistors. As such, device design is becoming more and more complicated. Meanwhile, device size is decreasing continuously as smaller-sized electronic components are manufactured and the ability of assembling these components on a smaller area is improving.

For this reason, a method for effectively dissipating the heat generated from the electronic components to prevent failure or malfunction is required.

In addition, demand on good heat dissipation, high strength and lightweightness is increasing for vehicles, home electric appliances and industrial heat exchangers.

Aluminum, widely known as a lightweight, high heat-dissipating metal, has been widely used as a material for substrates of integrated circuits, heat exchangers, etc. but is limited in mechanical strength. Although several alloys have been proposed to overcome this limitation, an alloy having greatly improved heat-dissipating property and strength at the same time has not been reported.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present invention is directed to providing a high heat-dissipating, high strength aluminum alloy.

Technical Solution

In an aspect, the present invention provides an aluminum alloy containing:

0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn); 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si); and 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), as essential components, and further containing one or more metal selected from a group consisting of 0.01-1.0 wt % of copper (Cu), 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe), 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr), 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quaternary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg) and 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quaternary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quaternary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quaternary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quinary aluminum alloy further containing 0.01-1.0 wt % of copper (Cu), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quaternary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg) and 0.01-1.0 wt % of copper (Cu), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quinary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quinary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quinary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quinary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quinary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a senary aluminum alloy further containing 0.01-1.0 wt % of copper (Cu), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a quinary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a senary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe), 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a septenary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe), 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr), 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr) and 0.01-1.0 wt % of copper (Cu), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a septenary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe), 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr), 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides an octonary aluminum alloy containing 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-1.0 wt % of iron (Fe), 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr), 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr), 0.01-1.0 wt % of copper (Cu) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

Advantageous Effects

An aluminum alloy provided by the present invention has very superior heat-dissipating property and strength and, therefore, can be used as a heat-dissipating material and also as a material for electric/electronic device packaging, a peripheral material for power devices and a material for heat exchangers for use in various applications including transportation such as electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, gasoline vehicles, etc., energy such as solar generation, etc., home electric appliances, industrial equipment, lighting, and so forth.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT INVENTION

The present invention relates to an aluminum alloy containing manganese (Mn), silicon (Si) and magnesium (Mg) as essential components and further containing one or more metal selected from group consisting of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zirconium (Zr), chromium (Cr) and titanium (Ti), with the remainder being aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

Manganese (Mn), silicon (Si) and magnesium (Mg) can provide the effect of enhancing both heat-dissipating property and strength when they exist together in aluminum. If the content of manganese is less than 0.8 wt %, the effect of enhancing both heat-dissipating property and strength may be insufficient. And, if it exceeds 2.2 wt %, processability may be unsatisfactory because a coarse dispersoid is produced. Accordingly, the manganese content may be 0.8-2.2 wt %, specifically 1.0-1.7 wt %. If the content of silicon is less than 0.1 wt %, the effect of enhancing both heat-dissipating property and strength may be insufficient. And, if it exceeds 0.9 wt %, processability may be unsatisfactory because a coarse dispersoid is produced. Accordingly, the silicon content may be 0.1-0.9 wt %, specifically 0.2-0.9 wt %. If the content of magnesium is less than 0.6 wt %, the effect of enhancing strength may be insufficient. And, if it exceeds 1.5 wt %, heat-dissipating property may be unsatisfactory. The magnesium may be 0.6-1.5 wt %, specifically 0.6-1.2 wt %.

The aluminum alloy may further contain one or more metal selected from group consisting of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zirconium (Zr), chromium (Cr) and titanium (Ti).

The content of the one or more metal selected from copper and iron may be 0.01-1.0 wt %, respectively. If the content of copper exceeds 1.0 wt %, heat-dissipating property may be unsatisfactory. Accordingly, the copper content may be 0.01-1.0 wt %, specifically 0.05-0.8 wt %. If the content of iron exceeds 1.0 wt %, processability may be unsatisfactory because a coarse dispersoid is produced. Accordingly, the iron content may be 0.01-1.0 wt %, specifically 0.05-0.8 wt %.

The content of the one or more metal selected from zirconium, chromium and titanium may be 0.01-0.5 wt %, respectively. If the content of each of zirconium, chromium and titanium exceeds 0.5 wt %, processability may be unsatisfactory because a coarse dispersoid is produced. Accordingly, the content of each of zirconium, chromium and titanium may be 0.1-0.5 wt %.

In order to further enhance the properties such as strength, heat-dissipating property, etc. of the aluminum alloy provided by the present invention, a plastic working such as rolling, extrusion, forging, etc., a combined processing of plastic working and heat treatment (e.g., H12, H24, H34, etc.), an aging treatment (e.g., T4, T6, T651, etc.), or the like may be employed.

The present invention will be described in more detail through examples. The following examples are for illustrative purposes only and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the scope of this invention is not limited by the examples.

Examples 1-17

Aluminum alloy ingots with compositions as described in Table 1 were homogenized, rolled and then annealed to manufacture 1.5 mm-thick plates. Samples for tensile testing were obtained from the plates and a tensile test was conducted at room temperature.

From stress-strain curves obtained from the tensile test, the stress at a plastic strain of 0.2% was taken as the yield strength.

It is known that heat dissipation ability can be determined by thermal conductivity and, for metals, the thermal conductivity is proportional to electrical conductivity. It is also known that the electrical conductivity can be calculated from the reciprocal of electrical resistivity. Accordingly, in order to evaluate the heat dissipation ability, electrical resistivity was measured at room temperature and the electrical conductivity was calculated from the reciprocal of the electrical resistivity.

As seen from Table 1, the aluminum alloys of the present invention of Examples 1-17 showed superior strength and electrical conductivity, with yield strengths of 100 MPa or higher and electrical conductivities of 23 MS/m or higher.

TABLE 1 Yield Electrical Alloy composition (wt %) strength conductivity Mn Si Mg Cu Fe Zr Cr Ti Al (MPa) (MS/m) Example 1 1.2 0.3 0.6 — — 0.02 — — remainder^(a)) 101 26.2 Example 2 1.5 0.4 0.8 0.6 — — — — remainder 196 25.7 Example 3 1.1 0.8 1.0 — 0.2 — — — remainder 130 29.0 Example 4 1.2 0.5 0.9 — — 0.3 — — remainder 190 26.0 Example 5 1.3 0.7 1.0 — — — 0.4 — remainder 148 24.7 Example 6 1.6 0.9 0.7 — — — — 0.4 remainder 178 27.8 Example 7 2.2 0.8 0.9 — — 0.1 0.1 — remainder 185 27.1 Example 8 0.8 0.6 0.7 — — 0.1 — 0.2 remainder 107 30.2 Example 9 0.8 0.7 0.8 — — 0.1 0.5 0.1 remainder 128 28.2 Example 10 0.9 0.4 0.7 0.02 — 0.2 0.02 0.5 remainder 155 26.4 Example 11 1.2 0.8 1.5 — 0.5 0.2 — — remainder 173 26.9 Example 12 1.2 0.8 0.8 — 0.3 — 0.3 — remainder 145 27.6 Example 13 1.1 0.7 0.7 — 1.0 — — 0.02 remainder 175 26.3 Example 14 1.2 0.6 0.7 — 0.03 0.5 0.2 — remainder 182 26.5 Example 15 1.2 0.6 1.0 — 0.2 — 0.1 0.1 remainder 154 29.7 Example 16 1.4 0.5 1.2 — 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 remainder 198 25.4 Example 17 1.2 0.1 0.8 0.9 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 remainder 205 23.2 ^(a))Balance to make the total content of the alloy composition 100 wt %.

Comparative Examples 1-11

Aluminum alloy ingots with compositions as described in Table 2 were homogenized, rolled and then annealed to manufacture 1.5 mm-thick plates in the same manner as in Examples 1-17. Samples for tensile testing were obtained from the plates and a tensile test was conducted at room temperature. Then, yield strength and electrical conductivity were measured in the same manner as in Examples 1-17.

As seen from Table 2, the aluminum alloys outside the scope of the present invention do not exhibit the performance of high heat-dissipating, high strength aluminum alloys. Comparative Example 1 with a small manganese content, Comparative Example 2 with a small silicon content and Comparative Example 3 with a small magnesium content showed poor yield strengths of lower than 70 MPa. For Comparative Example 4 with a large manganese content and Comparative Example 5 with a large silicon content, sampling was difficult because sound plates could not be obtained. Comparative Example 6 with a large magnesium content and Comparative Example 7 with a large copper content exhibited poor electrical conductivities of lower than 20 MS/m. For Comparative Example 8 with a large iron content, Comparative Example 9 with a large zirconium content, Comparative Example 10 with a large chromium content and Comparative Example 11 with a large titanium content, sampling was difficult because sound plates could not be obtained.

TABLE 2 Yield Electrical Alloy composition (wt %) strength conductivity Mn Si Mg Cu Fe Zr Cr Ti Al (MPa) (MS/m) Comparative 0.7 0.2 0.7 — 0.1 — — — remainder^(a)) 55 25.1 Example 1 Comparative 1.1 0.07 0.8 — 0.1 — — — remainder 68 23.3 Example 2 Comparative 1.1 0.7 0.4 — 0.1 — — — remainder 62 26.7 Example 3 Comparative 2.4 0.6 1.1 — 0.1 — — — remainder  X* X Example 4 Comparative 1.9 1.1 1.2 — 0.1 — — — remainder X X Example 5 Comparative 1.2 0.2 1.8 — — — 0.2 — remainder 125 18.7 Example 6 Comparative 1.2 0.2 1.1 1.2 — — — — remainder 138 17.1 Example 7 Comparative 1.2 0.7 1.1 — 1.3 — — — remainder X X Example 8 Comparative 1.7 0.5 0.8 — — 0.7 — — remainder X X Example 9 Comparative 1.7 0.8 0.9 — — — 0.6 — remainder X X Example 10 Comparative 1.5 0.6 1.2 — — — — 0.6 remainder X X Example 11 ^(a))Balance to make the total content of the alloy composition 100 wt %. *X means that sampling was impossible. 

1. (canceled)
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 3. An aluminum alloy comprising 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr), with the remainder comprising aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.
 4. An aluminum alloy comprising comprising 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr), with the remainder comprising aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.
 5. An aluminum alloy comprising 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder comprising aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.
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 11. An aluminum alloy comprising 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-0.5 wt % of chromium (Cr) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder comprising aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.
 12. An aluminum alloy comprising 0.8-2.2 wt % of manganese (Mn), 0.1-0.9 wt % of silicon (Si), 0.6-1.5 wt % of magnesium (Mg), 0.01-0.5 wt % of zirconium (Zr) and 0.01-0.5 wt % of titanium (Ti), with the remainder comprising aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.
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